New Zealand 2 will deal a massive blow to NZ rugby

[Pippen94]

I am in favour of a 2nd NZ team, it just needs to be done right.
Plonking a 2nd team in NZ without support in pathways and assisting a 2nd tier national comp is just setting it up to fail.
I think many in Aus assume league in NZ is run much better than it actually is- from my experience the Union club comp in Sydney is run far better than the league club in Auckland, most would get a huge culture shock at the state of league in NZ at grass roots level.
We already see the problems the Warriors have in attracting even NZ talent, NZ2 will have this issue amplified. Without any semblance of decent development systems the majority of NZ players will continue to flock to Australian schools for their development- most won’t come back.
Location is another issue with both of the ‘next best’ options not being a slam dunk on their own merit. Christchurch has the advantage of a new purpose built stadium, a stronger local comp and a more parochial supporter base (akin to qld vs nsw mentality) as most locals are born and bred to the region. However it’s main con is that due to its geographical location it would pretty much be a solely South Island entity which outside of CHCH and to a lesser extent Dunedin (4.5 hours away) the rest of the island is VERY sparsely populated and it’d be unlikely you’d get too many supporters outside of Canterbury. The one eyed popularity of the Crusaders could potentially impact supporter base.
Wellington is a lot more centrally located and much closer to a larger population base which would likely tap into the northern part of the South Island as well as the bottom 2/3rds of the North. Being the Capital it has better access to higher profiler corporate support. Cons being although a great location in the cbd the stadium needs to be full or close to for atmosphere. This leads into its next con as Wellington can be a bit fickle with its support and don’t tend to tolerate teams not performing. Local comp is struggling but is traditionally stronger and would likely get an injection of interest if a team was based there

Great post - thank you

 

[Gobsmacked]

I think Hamilton is too close. Then we just have two upper north island teams and you're not going to draw much support for the new team from the rest of the country.

Agree, funny thing is that as much as it's too close but it's also too far to draw fans from either city. I was surprised how long and expensive the train was between the 2 cities.
There's no strategic advantage to Hamilton.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Agree, funny thing is that as much as it's too close but it's also too far to draw fans from either city. I was surprised how long and expensive the train was between the 2 cities.
There's no strategic advantage to Hamilton.

I think Australians underestimate distances in NZ, they often just assume it’s a small country and everything is an hours drive from everything else tops.

 

[Wb1234]

I think Australians underestimate distances in NZ, they often just assume it’s a small country and everything is an hours drive from everything else tops.

Because Australia has small distances between cities

 

[Pippen94]

Because Australia has small distances between cities

Lol

 

[Canard]

Because Australia has small distances between cities

You seem to also lack reading comprehension skills.

 

[Wb1234]

Lol

People don’t understand how big Sydney is

I think nsw alone has a bigger land mass than the whole uk

 

[Canard]

People don’t understand how big Sydney is

I think nsw alone has a bigger land mass than the whole uk

People? Who?

What Australians don't realise how big Sydney is? Or Australia?

That was the whole point of the above post. That Australian is so vast, that people assume everywhere in NZ is a short drive.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

People don’t understand how big Sydney is

I think nsw alone has a bigger land mass than the whole uk

And that’s the problem - Australians think because everything here is so far apart that distances in other countries must be inconsequential. They’re shorter, but often still significant. Auckland to Wellington is in the same ballpark as Sydney to Melbourne for example.
Auckland to Hamilton is equivalent to Sydney to Newcastle

 

[Gobsmacked]

And that’s the problem - Australians think because everything here is so far apart that distances in other countries must be inconsequential. They’re shorter, but often still significant. Auckland to Wellington is in the same ballpark as Sydney to Melbourne for example.
Auckland to Hamilton is equivalent to Sydney to Newcastle

Australia has straight flat multiple lane highways.. NZ is basically the complete opposite to that...

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Australia has straight flat multiple lane highways.. NZ is basically the complete opposite to that...

Except for Auckland to Hamilton which is multi-lane freeway all the way.

 

[Wb1234]

And that’s the problem - Australians think because everything here is so far apart that distances in other countries must be inconsequential. They’re shorter, but often still significant. Auckland to Wellington is in the same ballpark as Sydney to Melbourne for example.
Auckland to Hamilton is equivalent to Sydney to Newcastle

Nsw. 801 km sq
Nz 268 km sq

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Nsw. 801 km sq
Nz 268 km sq

Somewhat irrelevant to point to point distances- NSW is basically square with not much in the western 2/3 of the states. NZ is long and narrow with cities strung along the length of the country. It’s more like the east coast from Brisbane to Melbourne. Except there’s a gap of water in the middle you need to cross.

 

[Pippen94]

Nsw. 801 km sq
Nz 268 km sq

Mate, who are you arguing with?! Comes up as ignored

 

[Wb1234]

Somewhat irrelevant to point to point distances- NSW is basically square with not much in the western 2/3 of the states. NZ is long and narrow with cities strung along the length of the country. It’s more like the east coast from Brisbane to Melbourne. Except there’s a gap of water in the middle you need to cross.

Nz is tiny bruv

 

[Wb1234]

Mate, who are you arguing with?! Comes up as ignored

Whyd you ignore spacemonkey he’s good

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Nz is tiny bruv

Yeah but that doesn’t mean everything is close together like you seem to be assuming. It’s still takes time to get places because of geography

 

[Colk]

Whyd you ignore spacemonkey he’s good

Because he probably said a mean thing about him once

 

[Wb1234]

Yeah but that doesn’t mean everything is close together like you seem to be assuming. It’s still takes time to get places because of geography

Size of qld 1.8 million sq km

 

[Pippen94]

Whyd you ignore spacemonkey he’s good

Don't know who that is.. doesn't matter